insignificant ramblings of a 40-something woman
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Falls of Dess and new oven at last
We had a delightful picnic today beside the Falls of Dess in Kincardine O’Neil. It’s Daniel’s birthday this week and he wanted to go for a walk in the country and specifically chose this waterfall which we visited once before for Ben’s birthday. It’s a lovely, mostly flat walk beside farmland and through forest with…
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Snow day
If it’s going to be cold then there should be snow and snow we had in abundance today. What fun it is and so pretty. And we had such fun sledging down the hill at Duthie Park. We had the whole slope to ourselves too.
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I captured the cardigan
This year I want to try to buy and wear only natural fibres. I know at the outset I will fail because of coats and running shoes and probably other things I haven’t thought of. It’s difficult to find a waterproof coat that’s not made from plastic. I do have a waxed cotton coat that…
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A miscarriage of justice
Most people in the UK will have heard about the Post Office scandal but for those who don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a summary. The Post Office rolled out a new computer system across the UK in 1999 to help subpostmasters manage their books. It was created by Fujitsu and contained a bug…
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Happy 14th birthday, Elizabeth
Today is New Year’s Eve for everyone else but for us it’s Elizabeth’s birthday. She was born on this day 14 years ago. We took her to her favourite restaurant for dinner with her oldest friend Dione who she’s known since her first year of school. We don’t eat out much these days and it…
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A Christmas to remember – snow, storm, vomits, and drunks
We’re back in Aberdeen having spent an enjoyable yet dramatic week away in Aviemore over Christmas. We arrived last Friday night packed like sardines in a hire car with the largest boot I could possibly get. It was a scary drive because it was dark and there were blizzard-like conditions. We had to take Rocket…
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Loch Morlich in the snow
Today was a glorious day in the highlands with the landscape coated in fluffy, white snow with a clear blue sky and some sun. We spent the day tobogganing and walking around Loch Morlich. Here are some photos.
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Merry Christmas 2023
We are in Aviemore and it has been an eventful couple of days with Ben spending much of Friday night puking. He’s mostly recovered now but Elizabeth fell victim on Christmas Eve and spent the night puking and Christmas Day unable to eat very much. There are 10 of us in the house so we’re…
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The Green Loch in snow
We’re in Aviemore and we awoke to a winter wonderland this morning so what better thing to do than a walk to The Green Loch. I’ve not seen it in the snow before and this is one of our favourite lochs as it’s a pretty green lake surrounded by hills and forest. I’ve got photos…
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I papered the bedroom
I finally papered the bedroom today. You might remember a couple of months ago we had to replace the wall in our bedroom. I painted over the new wall but it was always my intention to wallpaper it. The beige wall looks ok but I’m not a beige person and it was starting to irritate…
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“I love studying for maths”
Said no teenage boy ever except Daniel. After spending two hours on Saturday night studying he said exactly this followed by, “Two hours of doing practice exam questions is so nice.” I guess it’s a bit like solving puzzles which can be fun when you know how to tackle them. I can’t say I ever…
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Photos of Aberdeen
I took this photo of a man in a kilt washing windows a couple of weeks ago when walking into town with Elizabeth. Only in Scotland! Last night we went to a Christmas party at Ben’s work. We’ve had several frosty days and it took us around 10 minutes to scrape all the ice off…
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Knitted baby garments
I’ve spent the past couple of days clearing out a cupboard containing bags of baby stuff. We’ve still got all the kids’ old baby clothes, nappies, and loads of beautiful knitted garments. I took some of the clothes to the charity shop today and have been washing the knitted garments, most of which we’ll keep…
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Autumn colours
Last weekend we went to Angus and took these lovely photos of the autumn colours on a walk near Kinnettles Castle. Up on the hill behind the castle are two water towers that previously supplied water to the castle and estate. One of them has a door that you can open to peer inside. It’s…
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Knitwear anonymous
After years of denial I’m finally accepting the truth that I have a knitwear problem. My family are supporting me through this difficult time. They’ve been aware of my problem for years and despite their efforts, I continued to deny it was an issue. But now I’m at the point where my cupboard door won’t…
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Lest we forget
As Armistice Day approaches I want to remember my Great Uncle William Haswell Shelton who was killed in action on the 25th April 1915 at Gallipoli. He is one of 3,200 Australians who died at Gallipoli and was only 22 years old. Several young men from the same area in rural Queensland signed up together…
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Fiona the sheep
I was delighted on Saturday to learn of the rescue of Britain’s loneliest sheep. Fiona’s story went viral late last month after a plea from a kayaker who had spotted her while kayaking off the coast of Brora in Scotland way back in 2021. The sheep had apparently called out to the group and followed…
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Autumn in Aberdeenshire
Stunning autumn colours in the Scottish countryside today. This is Scolty Hill in Aberdeenshire: the best little corner of the planet. The tower behind us in this next photo is a 300m high monument built for a local man, General William Burnett, who fought alongside Wellington in the Napoleonic Wars. There’s a spiral staircase inside…
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The fox and the stilton
My mother left some black pudding and stilton in our fridge when she departed. Even if I wasn’t vegan there’s no way I’d be eating either thing as they’re both full of salt so I put them outside with a camera. The stilton went first followed swiftly by the black pudding. Mr Fox looks to…
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Replacing and insulating our bedroom wall
About a month ago I started removing the wallpaper from a wall in our bedroom with the idea to cover it with 10mm of cork for insulation. I thought this would be an inexpensive way of keeping our bedroom warm in winter and lowering our energy bills. This wall is an external wall that faces…
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